New York: Father found guilty of murdering 9-year-old Melina
"She didn't want to go on a trip with him" the mother testified
Photo: A shallow pond, Evelyn Simak / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Published: August 14th 2026
© stopchildabuse.gr
"The murder of a 9-year-old Greek-Canadian girl by her father in New York has shocked Canadian society, according to what has become known in recent days.
Her Canadian father, Luciano Frattolin, was found guilty on Monday (10.08.2026) of murdering his 9-year-old daughter, Melina. He strangled the child in a swamp in a mountainous area of northeastern New York.
Luciano Frattolin, a businessman in the coffee industry, killed little Melina in July 2025, during a vacation they had taken together. He then hid her body under a rock."
We quote the apt comment by Mariniki Alevizopoulou:
"This is what the news report says. And I wonder:
Did the father, by any chance, invoke "parental alienation"?
Did he tell the court that it was Melina's mother's fault, because she didn't want the child to accompany him on the trip? That the child had been "coached"?
And how did he respond in the past to the child's refusal to accompany him? Did he file lawsuits against the mother for obstructing communication with HIS child and for violating a court order?
Was there a court that convicted her for this?
Did the father, by any chance, present a social services investigation in which some social worker would confirm that the child was a victim of "parental alienation" caused by the mother?
Did the juvenile prosecutor send the child to mandatory sessions with the father in order to break down her resistance?
Was there some abusive child psychiatrist or psychologist found to carry out the prosecutor's order?
Did some tabloid journalist give a platform to the complaints of the dad who ultimately murdered Melina?
Or does this only happen in our country?"
SOURCE
- Original title:
- New York: Father found guilty of murdering 9-year-old Melina – "She didn't want to go on the trip with him," says her Greek mother
- Author(s):
- TANEA Newsroom
- Publish date:
- 11/08/2026
- Source:
- TA NEA
- Source link:
- https://www.tanea.gr
- Original article link:
- Read the original article
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ORIGINAL TEXT
The murder of a 9-year-old Greek-Canadian girl by her father in New York has shocked Canadian society, according to what has become known in recent days.
Her Canadian father, Luciano Frattolin, was found guilty on Monday (10.08.2026) of murdering his 9-year-old daughter, Melina. He strangled the child in a swamp in a mountainous area of northeastern New York.
Luciano Frattolin, a businessman in the coffee industry, killed little Melina in July 2025, during a vacation they had taken together. He then hid her body under a rock.
After committing the crime, he fabricated a story that Melina had been abducted, triggering an Amber Alert and the mobilization of a large police operation to locate the 9-year-old.
The 9-year-old's father now faces a life sentence for second-degree murder and concealment of a body. Essex County prosecutor Michael Langey stated in his closing argument that "Melina's short life came to a violent end," addressing Frattolin, who avoided his gaze.
"Everything was covered in mud. Her long black hair, which had just been taken out of its braids, was covered in dirt and grass," the prosecutor added. The jury took just one hour to reach their verdict.
Melina's Greek mother, Kali Galanis, had full custody of her daughter after her relationship with Frattolin ended in 2019. In recent years, she had allowed Melina to travel with her father.
Testifying in court, the 9-year-old's mother stated that the little girl did not want to travel abroad, specifically to Ethiopia, with her father. "She didn't want to go," the mother testified, adding that she herself had become increasingly worried about this trip, as she had been warned by her lawyer about incidents in which separated parents took their children abroad and did not return them.
Galanis also testified that Frattolin later suggested extending the trip to Ethiopia. She said that conversations with Melina ultimately led her to cancel the trip. "I felt uncomfortable. I was no longer okay with it," she explained, referring to that particular trip.
Then, instead of Ethiopia, Frattolin proposed taking Melina on a trip to Connecticut and New York. On the day they were scheduled to return to Quebec, where the 9-year-old's father lived, he killed her and then invoked the supposed abduction to cover his tracks.
Machine-assisted translation, reviewed and edited by a human.